VANCOUVER — Stefan Charles said he plays well when angry. His former coach played 14 pro football seasons calling himself Mr. Furious. As partnerships go, it was a pretty good start.

Charles may or may not become one of the few players with the Langley/Big Kahuna Rams to be selected during the three-day NFL draft, which starts Thursday night, or even get signed as a free agent for training camp.

He didn’t spend enough time playing junior in the B.C. Football Conference and his two seasons overpowering opponents as a CIS defensive lineman at the University of Regina wasn’t enough to make him a polished product.

However, Charles would not have progressed this far without a push from Daved Benefield, who is taking what he picked up as a lineman with the B.C. Lions and four other teams and conveying his knowledge as a position coach at UBC these days.

Benefield saw what Charles had to offer while coaching the team known as the Surrey Rams four years ago, which resonated as the young lineman fought a series of personal challenges.

With a newborn daughter, a mother who had health issues and no father figure in his life, Charles left home in Oshawa, Ont., as a 20 year old in search of a career. Benefield only coached Charles in 2009, but helped get him placed at Regina, impressed not only by his NFL-sized 6-foot-4, 328-pound frame, but his relentless work ethic.

“He’s the kind of guy who if you say, ‘We’re going to workout tomorrow,’ he’s probably knocking on your door at 6:30 a.m., cleats in hand, ready to go,” Benefield said.

“We talked about staying eligible for opportunities. That meant staying eligible for school because doors stay open. He kept coming to me saying, ‘I wish I had more time having you coach me.’ That kind of made my eyes warm.”

Charles has frequently told teams assessing him that football represents an opportunity few wanted to give him in the past.

“I kind of play the game angry,” he said in an interview video posted on the CFL’s website.

“My whole thing is blue-collar. I didn’t get a scholarship. I played junior ball and worked in a tire factory in Surrey. I took care of my daughter. I went to Regina, worked as a janitor shovelling snow. I was sleeping on the floor my first two years. Now I got an opportunity. I’m going to make the most of it.”

NFL teams hadn’t taken to scouting Regina, much less a junior team in Surrey, but the success of Regina tackle Akiem Hicks, a U.S. junior college transfer taken in the third round last year by the New Orleans Saints, has benefitted Charles.

At least seven NFL teams have inquired or sought game tape on Charles, who participated in the league’s recent super-regional combine in Dallas, where one in four players on average are eventually signed. Several pre-draft publications project Charles as a rush end in a 3-4 defence.

“I’ve seen interest level pretty high in Canadians, but never something quite like this,” said Montreal-based agent Darren Gill, who represents Charles in Canada.

The NFL draft concludes Saturday and is followed by a frenzied period of free agent signings. Regardless of what happens, the lineman will have an effect on the May 6 CFL draft. Charles dominated offensive linemen at the league’s annual evaluation camp in March and is ranked second behind Abbotsford product Bo Lokombo, of Oregon.

However, the possible departure of Charles and the fact Lokombo will enter the 2014 NFL draft will throw the CFL draft into its annual tizzy.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he got anything from a third-round pick on down to a free-agent signing,” said Kelly Bates, draft co-ordinator for the B.C. Lions, assessing Charles’ NFL draft stock.

“There are issues. He’s an onion; there’s lot of layers there. But the skill-sets are tremendous. You don’t see them very often.”

They wouldn’t have been seen at all if Benefield hadn’t nudged Charles to continue so he could finally get noticed.

“One thing you cannot coach is size and speed. He’s got size,” Benefield said. “Stefan’s a guy who needs to be in the right place with the right guys who can get his fundamentals up to par. I hope he gets an opportunity, but he’s going to have to find vets who take a shining to the big kid.”

With or without Mr. Furious, if Charles shows up angry, it might just work out.